Characteristics of Sr⁺ ions in an RF trap

Abstract

SUMMARYWe have developed a system for generating light by doubling the frequency (second-harmonic generation) of a high-power semiconductor laser, with high frequency stability provided by locking to the absorption line of a hollow-cathode lamp. Once this system was built, we constructed an ion trap and used light from the system to measure the characteristics of the trapped ions. By illuminating the ions with both a pump laser and a repumping laser, we were able to measure the characteristics of the ion fluorescence. We used rate equations to analyze our measurements.